Spring 2024 - HIST 200 D100

Making History: Introduction to Historical Research (3)

Class Number: 4646

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 8 – Apr 12, 2024: Mon, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Learning history by doing history. Introduction to a historical problem, and learning how to build and defend a historical interpretation through the analysis of primary and secondary sources. Small seminar format will allow hands-on experience developing research, writing, and presentation skills applicable to other history courses. Breadth-Humanities/Social Sciences.

COURSE DETAILS:

Dam it! Who holds the power in Canada’s hydroelectric development?
In 2014, the Cristy Clark government in BC approved the development of the Site C Dam on the Peace River.  Supporters hailed the initiative for its potential to create clean, renewable energy; but opponents pointed to less salubrious impacts of hydroelectric development on the ecosystem.

Site C Dam is actually a recent extension of a large-scale hydroelectric project on the Peace and Columbia Rivers initiated by W.A.C. Bennett’s government in the 1960s.  At that same time, on the other side of the country, the Churchill Falls hydroelectric development was launched in Newfoundland and Labrador by the government of J.R. Smallwood.  Both mega-projects were introduced with fanfare and with minimal public discussion of the risks involved or consultation with those adversely affected. They were emblematic of high-modernism in Canada: an overwhelming belief in science and technology as a means to create progress, industry, and employment in the postwar world.  Both were increasingly challenged by environmentalists and Indigenous activists, who raised concerns about the flooding of lands and displacement of Indigenous people, farmers, and other local residents; the environmental impacts of such largescale interventions on local flora and fauna; and the build-up of toxins and sediments that accompanies the damming of major rivers.

In this course, we will engage with the methods of social history, Indigenous history, and environmental history to investigate the development and contestation of the hydroelectric projects on the Churchill and Peace rivers.  We will explore how and why high-modernism became a powerful cultural force in the second half of the 20th century. We will attempt to balance the positive and negative impacts of such developments. And we will ask how ordinary Canadians have been complicit in increasing demand for hydroelectricity, given that alternative sources of electricity (e.g., nuclear, wind, geothermal) are still nowhere near being able to meet that demand.  What are we willing to give up or trade off to square the circle?

In this course, students will participate in class discussions, work with primary and secondary sources, and create annotated bibliographies, outlines, and thesis statements in preparation for writing a well conceived, historically grounded, and thoughtfully argued position paper on the building of generating stations at ONE of the more recent expansions of these projects: Site C Dam on the Peace River or Muskrat Falls on the Lower Churchill River.

 

Grading

  • Class Participation – written and oral 20%
  • Seminar discussion - What are people saying about hydroelectricity? 10%
  • Group presentations - How do we use the power? 10%
  • Position paper: Annotated bibliography (20%), Thesis statement and outline (10%) and Final position paper (30%) 60%

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

This course has no required textbook.  All learning materials will be available on Canvas, through the library, or on the Internet.


REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity website http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the university community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the university. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the university. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.